The Official War Rock Website heralds
development of War Rock, an upcoming multiplayer first-person shooter. The twist
here is that the game is free-to-play, with a business model that relies on
purchases of additional abilities and weapons by those seeking an advantage. The
game is expected to launch in the summer, but there will be an open beta
beginning next month. Word is the game will offer several game modes, support
for custom content, and the ever-popular 3D voice chat:

The
community-driven game-play supports additional maps, weapons, vehicles and
in-game 3D voice chat. The game will eventually incorporate several modes
including timed competition, survivor (timed free-for-all), independent
one-on-one death match mode and last man standing.

"War Rock is an extremely addictive shooter with great weapons, smooth and
intuitive controls and a wide variety of battle modes. From close quarters
battles between SpecOps teams in built up urban areas to island campaigns with
fast attack boats and helicopter gunships, War Rock has everything any
adrenaline junkie will ever need," Matt Norton, War Rock producer, K2 Network,
said.

The free game but pay for other stuff could work, but not like this…not giving distinct advantages too.

There are many examples to the contrary. People have been buying and selling game features for quite some time now. Especially in MMOs like Everquest. Some people will spend significant dollars on highly-ranked characters or equipment.

And I will also point out the masses of folks who cheat at online games (necessitating the inventions of the likes of Punkbuster). If they can get an advantage for a few bucks, they're going to go for it. I expect some of them are salivating at the idea of a game where they can be 'better' than most other players just buy spending a bit of cash.

That's not to say that there won't be gameplay areas/arenas that are restricted to certain levels of character, either. There's no reason why it would *have* to be a case of paying customers wiping the floor with non-paying customers (and for the person who said skill won't come into it, that's a silly statement. A skilled player will often run rings around the opposition, regardless of what kind of ammunition is coming their way.

And in the end, the cost of a moderately well-equiped character is likely to be a lot less than buying a regular retail game, so if you enjoy the gameplay, why the hell not pay to get more of it? The core game didn't cost you a cent, after all.

I absolutely agree this is a CRAP game.It was so bad I deleted it quickly lest it infect the good things on my hard drive with its crapulence. That press release needs a disclaimer-*Matt Norton has never played War Rock

They think they will hook people into the game with the free part. But they will not. Nobody wants to play or even try an online game for free when other people paying money will have a huge advantage.

The free game but pay for other stuff could work, but not like this…not giving distinct advantages too.

Putting aside the whole $ for weapon idea, have they improved the game at all? I tried it 3 or 4 months ago and it was laggy as hell and the lobby had already been hacked with automated chat lobby spam...among other things.

This is doomed to fail. As others have said, points on a server will be based on who spent the most money.

What is up with these foreign developers and their crappy games. Soldner, War Rock....games that might have had potential.

I just realised I played this a while back... I never actually figured out how to change the resolution or graphics options, as they seemed to be incredibly well hidden. The game seemed alright but hardly cutting edge. *shrugs*

Despite being free if some people have an advantage it won't be very fun to play. However, if you paid for access to things like aircraft or tanks and restricted ground battles for regular users it could work... or you sold extras like night-vision goggles, etc. Selling weapons will just make the game unbalanced because if it doesn't what is the advantage to buying them?

i will definitely try this. i usually pay 40-50 bucks for a game like bf2 (my current addiction) and play it for 6 to 12 months, i suspect a competitive firearm package will average out to about the same. i'm also so fucking cheap, i'm more than willing to get used to the shitty free weapons. i am pleased as punch to see a new business model. i hope this game is good enough to attract enough people to really test this business model.

i think the weapons would have to have significant impact. for instance, i'm more of a sniper in games like this, so i'd be inclined to buy a sniper rifle and not pay for the others. but what happens in face to face combat when someone finds me perched up in a tower picking ppl off? i die. or i spend another two bucks and buy an uzi to take care of them next time they come and find me. problem with that scenario is, on sniper rich maps you ain't gonna have anything but snipers. like the AWP wars in CS.

_________________________________________________Better to be dead and cool than alive and uncool.

This basically means the more you spend on this game, the better you will score. Skill is of no importance here, only money is.

I have an even better idea. Just give the complete game with all weapons and abilities for free but instead sell aimbots, wallhacks and speedhacks to the gamers. I bet this way you will get even more gamers to play and pay for your game.

I just wonder what the price structure will be? Maybe you'll get the pistol for 2$ but the machine gun costs you already 7$ and if you pay 10$ you'll get 10 ammo clips with 2 free of charge. Of course if you also buy the rocket launcher, night googles, armor, a box of grenades plus medikit and the heavy-armored tank you'll have to pay 700$ just for one game.

Don't you love all the possibilities and freedom this will give to you... and of course fill the pockets of the developers. This is even better than episodic games!

I like the business model here, you get to demo the whole game and see what other players can have and see how the game really plays. And if you like it you can buy the items you want to mess around with. Price will be important, charging a couple bucks for each gun would be a little tough to swallow, charging a couple bucks for 50 assault rifles, or 50 sniper rifles would be much easier.

I thought this idea would work with many games, giving people a free version to see the game in action with weak weapons and if they choose to buy into the game then they get the aresonal others have.

The game plays and feels a lot like countersrike might feel with a battlefield mod. The mechanics are similar but the feel of the game is very arcadey. Not my taste so I'll pass, but considering how many ppl like CS this might turn into something.

If the spend some time improving textures and making the game look sharper (and they may already have) it might be fun.

They think they will hook people into the game with the free part. But they will not. Nobody wants to play or even try an online game for free when other people paying money will have a huge advantage.

The free game but pay for other stuff could work, but not like this…not giving distinct advantages too.